robin in the fall

I have never seen a robin in the fall.  This guy was hanging out in the grape vines the other day, looking for a snack.  Unfortunately, the grapes were not plentiful this year, and they have long since been picked over by the blue jays.

American Robins eat invertebrates and fruit. In spring and summer they eat earthworms, insects and snails. They also like chokecherries, hawthorn, dogwood, sumac, and juniper berries.  For a list of food suggestions to attract robins and other birds, visit https://feederwatch.org/

Most robins move south in winter.  However, some stick around in their summer locations.  They migrate more in response to food, or lack of food, than to changes in temperature.  Fruit is their main winter food source.

mystery plant

This guy magically appeared in my back yard, right against the foundation.
It's huge - almost 3 feet across.
I have never seen anything like it.
I have posted it on facebook and asked the Garden Club, but no answers.
The leaves are rough, scratchy, dull, and smell bad when you pick one.

Here is one leaf, almost 20 inches long!

I plan to wait till next spring, when I hope it will bloom, which will make identification easier.


Now it's July 2019, and the plant has taken off.  The leaves seem more pointy, and they are smaller than last year, but the whole plant is about 3 feet tall, with purple stems.
I need to wait for the flowers to open, which I hope will make it easier to identify.
I went away for 2 weeks, and when I got back, the plant was just a brown twisted stem on the ground.  I never did get to see the open flowers, and I am still in the dark as to what it was.  One thing it is not:  invasive.

potato bonanza

I have never grown potatos before.  Some volunteers come up occasionally, and are immediately attacked by potato bugs.  But this year I purchased some special coloured seed potatoes brought from the Andes by a world traveler.

I thought I would try growing them in a special potato bag.  this way, all those little guys are corralled into a small space, and I don't have to go digging for them.  The bag was on my deck, and the sprouts were really pretty all summer, until the plant started to mature and die back.

I watered the plant like I would any other, and no potato bugs found it!
















I lugged the very heavy bag out to the vegetable garden, dumped it out, and opened a door on the side of the bag to find my booty.
Out popped a great variety of spuds, from the size of marbles to the length of my finger.  And the colours:  dark purple, white, speckled pink and white.














The soil left behind goes on the veggie garden.















I started with six spuds, and ended up with 75. 
A pretty good haul!

I will let them dry on the newspaper for a few days before putting them in a dark cool spot.

blue jay wants a peanut

Last week, I was washing the dishes when a blue jay repeatedly beat its wings against the window where I was standing.  This morning, I was having breakfast when a blue jay perched on the thermometer outside the window where I was sitting.

I immediately knew what it wanted:  peanuts and lots of them.
It must have a very long memory, because I had not fed them since last winter.

I grabbed the bag of peanuts and tossed some on the frosty glass table top.  The birds landed with a skid on the slippery surface, but it took no time at all for the crowd to make off with every one.

I have been feeding the birds for years, but this is the first time the jays have communicated  their hunger with me.

So yes, they are demanding and bold, but I still like the idea that they trust me.  I laugh every time they pick up a small peanut, only to reject it for a larger one, or try unsuccessfully to fly away with two.  The entertainment is worth the bird harassment!